Hellobee Boards

@TheHistoryofUs: "to get you hooked" . . . : /

Promoting = to help or encourage, which applies to either decision.

Pushing = tactlessly or officiously aggressive, which also applies to either decision.

There is a big difference between the two

Parents should be helped and encouraged to do what is best for their families, whether that is breast feeding or formula feeding. What is being left out here is that the common denominator for bF and fF is FEEDING.

Where the heck is everyone getting all this free formula from? I've never even received a coupon in the mail. The grocery store gives me coupons but it's always for the brands I am not using, which is less than helpful. I received a few 2 oz. samples from the hospital but that only got my baby through the first few days at home. From my experience, the amount of formula hospitals give out is minimal and is not likely to make or break a person's decision on how to feed their baby. And so what if it does? Formula is not bad for a baby so why is it anyone's else business?

@sloaneandpuffy: I'm a little offended by this, but I might be misinterpreting what you're writing. Hard with the internet - I consider myself to be extremely well-informed as a mom-to-be, but because I might choose formula over breastfeeding makes me less educated than you?

@sloaneandpuffy: ah, okay. I don't know that age necessarily has anything to do with it, though. I know this is a silly reference but it's a total guilty pleasure - I've seen many of the girls on 16 and Pregnant breastfeeding their babies, and they are..well, 16. I definitely agree that breastfeeding education should be more accessible and promoted (it is national breastfeeding week, after all!) but also think that by making moms who choose formula feel badly (for whatever reason) isn't the way to go.

I'm not saying you're personally making those moms feel badly, but generally speaking--for instance, if I want to FF and everyone is saying formula should be "locked up" and other statements that make me feel as though I'm almost endangering my daughter by not choosing breast milk, I feel like a pretty shitty mom. And that's not fair - because it's my choice, not anyone else's.

Americans love freebies, sorry but it's true, just read the posts about collecting "loot" from the hospitals after delivery.

The fact is, breast is not always best for every family. You have no idea what a family is dealing with. Perhaps a mother has inverted nipples, or the baby has a cleft palate, or the mother experienced sexual trauma involving her breasts, or the mother has to go almost immediately back to a job with no BFing support, or perhaps the mother is on medications that make breastfeeding dangerous, or perhaps the mother JUST DOESN'T WANT TO BREASTFEED. A new mother does not deserved to be shamed by her peers or the government for her choice to giver her baby a nutritious alternative to breastmilk.

I am so tired of the moralizing and guilting and shaming on this issue. The science does not support breastmilk as a magical elixir. In fact the science supports almost no CAUSAL distinction between breast and formula fed babies. (And before you jump all over me on this, please consult the meta-studies that have been done.) Formulas are an absolutely acceptable and nutritious choice, and if a mother makes it, it's none of your business, and absolutely none of the state's business.